The Last Kids on Earth (The Last Kids on Earth #1)

by Max Brallier (Author) Douglas Holgate (Illustrator)

Reading Level: 4th − 5th Grade
Soon to be a Netflix Original series! 

The New York Times and USA Today bestselling series, with over two million copies in print!

“Terrifyingly fun! Delivers big thrills and even bigger laughs.”–Jeff Kinney, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Ever since the monster apocalypse hit town, average thirteen year old Jack Sullivan has been living in his tree house, which he’s armed to the teeth with catapults and a moat, not to mention video games and an endless supply of Oreos and Mountain Dew scavenged from abandoned stores. But Jack alone is no match for the hordes of Zombies and Winged Wretches and Vine Thingies, and especially not for the eerily intelligent monster known only as Blarg. So Jack builds a team: his dorky best friend, Quint; the reformed middle school bully, Dirk; Jack’s loyal pet monster, Rover; and Jack’s crush, June. With their help, Jack is going to slay Blarg, achieve the ultimate Feat of Apocalyptic Success, and be average no longer! Can he do it? 

Told in a mixture of text and black-and-white illustration, this is the perfect book for any kid who’s ever dreamed of starring in his or her own comic book or video game. And then grab the rest of the series, now a New York Times bestseller!

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Kirkus Reviews

Starred Review
Middle-grade readers, particularly boys, will find Jack's pitch-perfect mix of humor, bravado, and self-professed geekiness impossible to resist. . . . The marriage of text and illustration serves as a perfect example of what an illustrated novel can and should be.

Booklist

The video-game-like plotting, gross-out humor, frequent pop-culture references, and quippy dialogue make this a great fit for reluctant readers. Recommend to Wimpy Kid fans looking for a horror-lite adventure.

Publishers Weekly

Starred Review

Thirteen-year-old Jack Sullivan may be the world's last survivor in this terrifically funny illustrated novel from Brallier (Galactic Hot Dogs) and Holgate (the Case File 13 series). When a "Monster Apocalypse" comes to the town of Wakefield, some escape, others are "zombified," and still others--Jack hopes--are in hiding. As a foster child, Jack has had his share of hard knocks, so he tries to take his situation in stride and with wisecracking humor. With a tree house refuge "that's better-defended than Fort Knox, Stark Tower, and the X-Mansion combined," Jack searches for sustenance, other living people--especially his best friend Quint and his dream girl June--and weapons to fight hideous monsters and undead neighbors. Holgate's b&w cartoons (not all seen by PW) mix splatter-and-slime-heavy action sequences with humorous character profiles (a portrait of a "winged wretch" points out the creature's "huge, hooked talons like a freaking velociraptor"), all playing into Jack's gamified take on post-apocalyptic life. Snarky end-of-the-world fun. Ages 8-12. Author's agent: Daniel Lazar, Writers House. Illustrator's agency: Shannon Associates. (Oct.)

Copyright 2015 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

School Library Journal

Starred Review

Gr 3-6—An apocalyptic monster attack has destroyed the town of Wakefield, leaving gigantic, slime-filled creatures in its wake. It appears that the entire population has been turned into zombies, except for 13-year-old Jack Sullivan. Jack is an abandoned foster kid trying to survive the catastrophe while living in a tricked-out tree house. In his daily fight for survival, which includes hand-to-hand combat using makeshift weapons, he locates two of his fellow students. One's a science geek, and the other's an oversize school bully. They unite to form a small army and set off to rescue a classmate they believe is trapped in their decimated school. The chapter book/graphic novel hybrid is fast moving and action packed. Loaded with outrageous devices such as a rolling ball of zombies, a revenge-filled creature with bad eyesight called BLARGH, and a monster-dog name Rover, this book provides loads of laughs. The characters are fully developed and honest in their adolescent interactions. Yet what sets this story apart from the typical gross-out fare is how these modern-day action heroes work through their emotions, which include love, loss, and extreme fear. Dynamic pencil sketches add to the hilarity. For readers looking to make the transition from chapter books to graphic novels, this is a foolproof initiation. VERDICT A gross-out good time with surprisingly nuanced character development.—Sada Mozer, Los Angeles Public Library

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

"Terrifyingly fun! Max Brallier's The Last Kids on Earth delivers big thrills and even bigger laughs."—Jeff Kinney, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Diary of a Wimpy Kid

"Young zombie fans will rejoice in this new series that has all the oozing (by the zombies) and heroism (by the kids) that they could hope for."—The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Max Brallier
Max Brallier is a #1 New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author. His books and series include The Last Kids on Earth, Eerie Elementary, Mister Shivers, Galactic Hot Dogs, and Can YOU Survive the Zombie Apocalypse? He is a writer and producer for Netflix's Emmy Award-winning adaptation of The Last Kids on Earth. Visit him at MaxBrallier.com.

Joshua Pruett is an Emmy Award winning writer best known for his work on Mystery Science Theater 3000, The Last Kids on Earth animated series, and the original feature for Disney Plus, Phineas and Ferb: The Movie: Candace Against the Universe. Josh has been a storyboard artist, writer and creative consultant for LEGO, Warner Animation Group, Pure Imagination Studios, Disney TV, DreamWorks Feature Animation, Nickelodeon, DreamWorks TV, Sprout/NBC Universal, Netflix, Paramount Feature Animation as well as co-author of Shipwreckers! The Curse of the Cursed Temple of Curses, Or We Nearly Died. A Lot, with Scott Peterson.

JAY COOPER is the illustrator and writer of over 25 books for kids young and old, including the New York Times best-selling graphic novel The Last Comics On Earth and national best-seller Your Guide To Not Getting Murdered In A Quaint English Village. Jay takes silly books very seriously--he believes that reading for pure enjoyment leads to a lifetime of literacy. Jay is also a Clio award-winning creative director of theatrical advertising, having crafted art and advertising for more than 140 Broadway shows. Born and raised in Delaware, Jay now resides with his wife and children in Maplewood, New Jersey.

Douglas Holgate is the illustrator of the #1 New York Times bestselling series The Last Kids on Earth from Viking (now also an Emmy-winning Netflix animated series) and the cocreator and illustrator of the graphic novel Clem Hetherington and the Ironwood Race for Scholastic Graphix. He has worked for the last twenty years making books and comics for publishers around the world from his garage in Victoria, Australia. He lives with his family and a large, fat dog that could possibly be part polar bear in the Australian bush on five acres surrounded by eighty-million-year-old volcanic boulders.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780670016617
Lexile Measure
650
Guided Reading Level
18
Publisher
Viking Books for Young Readers
Publication date
October 20, 2015
Series
The Last Kids on Earth
BISAC categories
JUV019000 - Juvenile Fiction | Humorous Stories
JUV008000 - Juvenile Fiction | Comics & Graphic Novels | General
JUV039140 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Self-Esteem & Self-Reliance
JUV001010 - Juvenile Fiction | Action & Adventure | Survival Stories
JUV018000 - Juvenile Fiction | Horror
JUV052000 - Juvenile Fiction | Monsters
JUV059000 - Juvenile Fiction | Dystopian
Library of Congress categories
Humorous stories
Survival
Monsters
Texas Bluebonnet Award
Winner 2017 - 2018

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